Vladimir Putin calls his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev to apologise

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev for the accident with the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger aircraft that occurred in Russian airspace.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by The Presidential Press and Information Office, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Vladimir Putin

"Vladimir Putin apologized for the fact that the tragic accident occurred in Russian airspace,” the statement said.

The Russian leader also expressed deep condolences over the accident and wished a speedy recovery to those who survived it.

On Saturday, December 28, Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev called each other regarding the crash of the AZAL airplane.

The Embraer 190 plane of Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on the morning of December 25. The aircraft was supposed to fly from Baku to Grozny, but due to bad weather conditions it was redirected to Makhachkala (Dagestan). The pilot eventually decided to land the plane in Aktau, but the aircraft crashed.

Details

Azerbaijan Airlines also known as AZAL, is the flag carrier and largest airline of the country of Azerbaijan. Based in Baku, adjacent to Heydar Aliyev International Airport, the carrier operates to destinations across Asia, the CIS, and Europe. Azerbaijan Airlines is a member of the International Air Transport Association. The airline was founded on 7 April 1992 as the first national airline established after the country gained its independence. The state-owned company was privatized in the 2000s, during which ownership of the company's assets ended up in the hands of companies owned by family members of Azerbaijani political elites, including President Ilham Aliyev's daughter Arzu Aliyeva.